A The Mingled Melody: Remembering the Tibetan March 10th Uprising

Lama Jabb, “The Mingled Melody: Remembering the Tibetan March 10th Uprising”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 48, Avril 2019, pp. 50-98.

The Mingled Melody:

Remembering the Tibetan March 10th Uprising

Lama Jabb

Suffering ages, but can never be forgotten ³ Tibetan Proverb

decade of fierce resistance and rebellion on the Tibe-tan plateau against the Chinese Communist forces, personnel and ideology culminated in a huge uprising on 10 March 1959 in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

Seasoned Chinese sol- diers brought the uprising to a swift end leaving carnage and destruc- tion in its wake. Avoiding death and capture the Dalai Lama managed to escape to India along with around 80,000 Tibetans, thus giving rise to the now global Tibetan exilic presence. This bloody suppression consolidated Chinese power and sealed the fate of Tibet under “the red flag” (dar dmar) of the Chinese Communist Party. More than any other date the 10th of March has come to define the modern Tibetan nation. It marks the complete occupation of Tibet and has come to sym- bolise a national tragedy, but it also stands for national unity, re- sistance and survival. Since 1960, March 10th has been unfailingly ob- served as the Tibetan National Uprising Day in Tibetan exile commu-

1 This essay is dedicated to my late beloved friend and colleague Tsering Dhundup Gonkatsang (1951-2018), a passionate lover and teacher of Tibetan language and poetry.

2 I would like to acknowledge a huge debt to the Leverhulme Trust for awarding me a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship in 2016 at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, the University of Oxford. This support has enabled me to undertake extensive re- search concerning the themes of the essay and discuss them with many colleagues in conferences and workshops held in Asia, Europe and the United States.

3 sdug rnying rgyu yod ra brjed rgyu med.

4 For a detailed account of the Tibetan national uprising of March 10th 1959 visit the March 10th Memorial website launched by Jamyang Norbu: http://m10memo- rial.org.

A

nities around the world. State security measures and the threat of seri- ous reprisals from the Chinese authorities make such commemora- tions impossible inside Tibet, but March 10th looms large in both po- litical action and poetic language. Even though Tibetans are forbidden to undertake open public commemorations of this date inside Tibet, many observe it both privately and collectively. Groups of people, both large and small, actively remember it by carrying out audacious protests coinciding with the month of March. The large-scale protests of the 1980s and 2008 are obvious illustrations of such commemorative acts.

Privately, Tibetans observe the anniversary through a variety of acts, such as lighting butter-lamps, making bsang offerings (the popu- lar Tibetan ritual of purification involving fire, incense and foodstuff), visiting holy mountains, sponsoring special prayers and rituals in monasteries or at sacred sites, reciting what could be called their na- tional mantra - Om maṇi padme hūṃ, composing and performing songs, and writing poetry.

Obvious references to this highly sensitive date are mostly confined to underground politico-poetic literature. However, more and more there are bold mentions of it in contemporary Tibetan poetry pub- lished online and on social media. In this paper, I will present a criti- cally acclaimed and widely circulated commemorative poem by Sang- dhor (Seng rdor), a celebrated contemporary Tibetan poet. The poem is known by two titles. When it first appeared on Sangdhor’s private literary website, now closed down, it was entitled “The Anniversary and the Melody” (dus dran dang rol dbyangs). As it began to circulate via social media it has acquired the more forthright title “March 10th and the Melody” (gsum pa’i tshes bcu dang rol dbyangs). Composed in 2010 to mark the 51st anniversary of the Lhasa Uprising, the poem stands out not only because of its daring subject matter but also its style, cadence, image construction, technical excellence and layers of allusion. Through an analysis of these qualities I will show how tradi- tional metric forms, recurrent motifs in classical Tibetan literature and oral traditions, formulaic figurative expressions and religious concepts are used in novel ways in order to convey contemporary political ideas and aspirations. The paper will also offer a brief reflection on the pop- ular reception of the poem in the age of social media. The attraction power of the emotive content embedded within the fine arrangement of words is circulated through both conventional and modern commu- nication technologies, the extent of its reach owing to the rise of the Tibetan language social media. Such internet enabled computer medi- ated means of communication helps to undermine political authoritar- ianism as well as orthodox literary views.

5 On these protests see Schwartz, Ronald D. 1994 and Smith, Warren W. 2010.

The Melody of March 10th

“The Anniversary and the Melody” is a long poem. In order for it to speak to the reader directly, without being diluted by interpretation and contextualisation, I present it here in its entirety at the outset. Hav- ing said this, the very medium of translation entails interpretation and inevitably alters the aesthetic and semantic qualities of the text. Shelley goes as far to speak of “the vanity of translation” when he posits: “It were as wise to cast a violet into a crucible that you might discover the formal principle of its colour and odour, as seek to transfuse from one language into another the creations of a poet. The plant must spring again from its seed, or it will bear no fruit—and this is the burthen of the curse of Babel.”

While taking heed of this notion of the untranslat- ability of poetry, it is also a simple fact that without the labour of trans- lation there cannot be much poetic communication across cultures di- vided by languages—let alone any possibility of overcoming the per- ennial linguistic confusion captured by the Tower of Babel story. In- deed, Tibetan scholars acknowledge the illuminating role of transla- tion in opening one’s eyes to a foreign world when they (following Indian classical scholars) reverentially address the accomplished translator as Lotsāwa (lo tsaA ba), “the eyes of the world” (’jig rten mig).

It might be impossible to transport “a certain uniform and harmonious recurrence of sound”

within a specific poem in a specific language over into another language. However, it is still possible to communi- cate some of its sense, tone, imagery, subtleties and general meaning.

With this in mind, I suggest that the reader first appreciates the poem on its own, albeit mediated through my translation. The Tibetan text is provided in Appendix One for those who read Tibetan—even with only a rudimentary level one should be able to get a sense of the poem’s sheer lyrical beauty, plaintive yet assertive cadence and unique Tibetan sound patterns.

The Anniversary and the Melody

Tonight is the Tenth of March,

Right now, Wednesday past midnight.

This year how many living things will die?

How many living things of this mountainside will die?

6 Shelley, Percy Bysshe. [1821] 1968: 107-108.

7 Ibid: 107.

8 The poem is subtitled: “My first representative poem of the Iron Tiger Year”. For the Tibetan original see Appendix One. This specific version was downloaded from a highly popular Tibetan WeChat literary forum on 29 April 2015. The name of this forum is left anonymous so as to avoid unwelcome attention.

The story of that time, that place and that month;

The cause of that day, that family and that year.

Roll them into a song of stringed peas scattering, Roll them into a dance of pulsing minds boiling.

“All the people who come are people who must go;

This perishable world has many a high and a low.”

Sing the tune of Khache Phalu far into the distance, From the horizon something bounces back as an echo.

Each and every single goose that solitary flies, Each and every lone grouse that solitary cries.

Let them be heard in the inner space of our minds, Let them permeate the utter depth of our minds.

If snow and blizzards swirl and rage, let it be;

If seasonal winds blow and blast, let it be.

Let’s meditate upon the boulder of conquering peace, Upon the thunderbolt boulder of conquering peace.

A band of mist breaks away and journeys to the south, A band of cloud breaks away and journeys to the north.

That is the offensive attack by the south, That is the violent suppression by the north.

Something of the mind convulses to the innermost core, Something of the psyche shakes with myriad motions.

To be beaten in the east and driven to the west is our karma, To be beaten in the west and driven to the east is our fate.

On the other side of this mountain of a distant land And on this side of this mountain of a great wilderness, There is a sacred vow kept with fervent holy tears;

There is a solemn promise kept within choked throats.

“From here over towards the regions where the sun sets,”

Thus is it written in a passage of an early dharmic text.

Despair is the circling of vultures with wings flapping, Defeat is the spreading of muthak with tassels flipping.

9 Muthak (rmu thag) is a long cord of loosely spun predominantly white wool with tassels running along the entire length of it. Muthak has great mythic and symbolic significance and it is believed that it bridges death and afterlife as well as the earth

From somewhere a song surges out with gentle pace, Gradually it demolishes cells of silence and isolation.

That is the ideal that we can behold;

That is our own great renaissance.

Beneath a thousand layered sheath of flesh and skin Laughs an innate, natural tune with deep resonance.

Deep within a hundred thousand encased bones and veins Sobs and sobs a masterful, primordial melody.

What is to be done with these cheekbone tears?

What is to be done with these heated liquids?

Let’s reveal them by turning them into sounds!

Let’s sing them by changing them into a melody!

That melody is the way that sand flows;

It is the way that sand and dust flow.

The year when the wisdom wings of mountain peaks beat The torrential flow of sand is the command.

That melody is how one breaks into a gallop;

It is how one leaps and breaks into a gallop.

The year when the tummo of mountain peaks burns Breaking into a wild gallop is the sacred helmet.

That melody is the crunching sound of smashing stones;

It is the crunching sound of smashing plastic and stones.

The year when the manes of mountain peaks stand on end The crunching smashing of the stones is the strategy.

Now let’s practise within the melody,

Let’s practise within the measure of the melody.

Let’s strike every string of the mind with great force And strum each note of the psyche with great power.

Now let’s train the mind within the melody,

Let’s train the mind within the cadence of the melody.

Let’s press every spring of the senses with great strength

and the sky. Indeed, old Tibetan historical texts often state that some of the earliest Tibetan kings used muthak to travel to the heavens after their death thus leaving no corporeal remains. To this day such ropes are stretched out on the ground when performing sky burials for the dead.

And turn each screw of the intellect with great might.

Now let’s seek respite within the melody,

Let’s seek respite within the harmony of the melody.

Let’s wipe clean all the parts and joints of the soul And wash well each component of the life force.

Now let’s write repa within the melody, Let’s write thought-provoking repa.

Each repa is a billion interrogations, Please strum the guitar and play the flute!

Now let’s draw dreams within the melody, Let’s draw dreams swarming with illusions.

Each dream is a billion pistols,

Please strum the guitar and play the flute!

Now let’s draw steeds within the melody,

Let’s draw cantering steeds with beating hooves.

Each steed is a billion prisoners,

Please strum the guitar and play the flute!

Now let’s be immersed within the stream of the melody;

Let’s reflect upon each fusion of tunes Like the process of water flowing into water, Please strum the guitar and play the flute!

Sometimes bend the upper string and release, Sometimes loosen the lower string and tighten.

Each and every musical note is anguish, Each and every vocal tone is sadness.

Recognise every pause of the melody within the mind, Reveal each activity of the mind through the melody.

Let’s call out “mum and dad” from the back of the throat, Let’s weep “kith and kin” from the depths of the vocal cords.

Place your ear against the mat of the melody, Place it with precision and without wavering.

Ever so gently close the eyelids and slow down,

The seal of our tribe will appear from the flank of the liver.

Rest your head against the ground of the melody,

Rest it with precision and without dreading.

Place your hands on the chest and slow down,

The sword of our tribe will emerge from the side of the bowels.

Seat your body within the depths of the melody, Seat it with precision and without fretting.

Breathe out at a measured pace and slow down, The edict of our tribe will come rolling off the lungs.

Thus, having realised the deep imprints of the melody And having dissolved all obscurations of the tune, The mango of the bones has gradually ripened.

So, let’s sing the distance of fifty years with voice!

Thus, having perfected the liberation paths of the melody And having extinguished all illusions of the tune,

The knotted rope of the throat has gradually unravelled.

So, let’s measure the stretch of fifty years with sound!

Thus, having roamed through the bardo of the melody And having been conceived through the union of the tune, The joints of the mind have gradually dovetailed,

So, let’s utter the reach of fifty years through speech!

A Tibetan proverb tells us that “suffering ages, but can never be for- gotten”. This gives distilled utterance to the lasting suffering inflicted by the loss of life. It is specifically referring to grief that changes over time in its sense of immediacy and felt intensity but never goes away.

When suffering is collective, within the durability of suffering encap- sulated by the Tibetan proverb lies a potent cohesive force. In his in- fluential lecture What is a Nation?, Ernest Renan is acutely aware of this force and states that “suffering in common unifies more than joy does.” He goes on to stress: “Where national memories are concerned,

10 In Tibetan dialectics mango (A mra) is used as an image for representing four con- trasting conditions of a thing or four logical possibilities known as mu bzhi. In Sang- dhor’s poem the gradually ripened mango stands for a state of perfect maturation.

For instance, (1) a mango could be ripe in the inside but unripe on the outside, or (2) unripe on the inside but ripe on the outside, or (3) unripe both inside and out- side, or (4) ripe both inside and outside. Here the case is the fourth. Bone (rus) is highly significant for the formation of Tibetan identity in that one’s descent is traced to the bone of an ancestor or ancestors. As such Tibetan terms for family or tribal lineage often feature the word rus as in bone: For instance, rus (family line- age, clan) rus pa (family lineage) rus rgyud (ancestry, lineage), bod kyi rus chen bzhi (The Four Great Tribes of Tibet). Bone is also a main tester of the strength of a person’s character as in mi ru pa can—“one who has the bones”—meaning someone who possesses backbone, courage, integrity and loyalty.

griefs are of more value than triumphs, for they impose duties, and require a common effort.”

The present poem is informed by this uni- fying potency of collective pain and defeat. It captures, amongst other things, that aspect of nationalism Isaiah Berlin calls the “bent twig”

phenomenon, a reaction to wounds or a strong sense of collective hu- miliation brought on by forms of injustice, oppression and military conquest.

The poem bears out this observation, but it also shows that such unifying collective emotions and their remembrance are redou- bled and mediated by other cohesive dynamics such as age-old cul- tural and historical memories, established forms of poetic expression and the present socio-political situation.

The Goose and the Grouse in Mourning

In the famous 1800 preface to the second edition of Lyrical Ballads Wordsworth declares: “For all good poetry is the spontaneous over- flow of powerful feelings: and though this be true, Poems to which any value can be attached were never produced on any variety of subjects but by a man who, being possessed of more than usual organic sensi- bility, had also thought long and deeply.”

For Wordsworth the writ- ing of poetry entails both an extempore dimension and a prolonged conscious meditation. Later on, in the same preface he describes this creative process as “emotion recollected in tranquillity.”

The fluidity, directness and raw emotive energy of “The Anniversary and the Mel- ody” make it come across as a product of spontaneous inspiration. At the outset, the poem declares: “Tonight is the Tenth of March/ Right now, Wednesday past midnight”. During one of our many conversa- tions on Tibetan literature, Sangdhor confirmed that: he had indeed written the poem in one sitting in the small hours of Wednesday morn- ing, 10 March 2010.

Such extemporaneity underscores the poet’s nat- ural flair and exceptional “organic sensibility”.

However, the poem’s technical brilliance, verbal intensity, nuanced historical consciousness and heightened political awareness also indi- cate deliberate contemplation. The poet “thought long and deeply”

while processing the initial feelings aroused by the long memory of March 10th for the finished poem.

This date of defeat and suffering

11 Renan, Ernest. [1882] 1990: 19.

12 Berlin, Isaiah. 1972: 11-30.

13 Wordsworth [1800] 1968: 5.

14 Ibid: 22.

15 Skype conversation, 17 April 2015.

16 One of the numerous constituents of this long memory is the annual March 10 Statements delivered by the Dalai Lama between 1961 and 2011. These statements and the speeches that accompanied them on the day were staple material for the

lodged deep within the Tibetan psyche had haunted the poet over a long period of time—leading right up to the midnight moment when it triggered the actual composition of the poem. Although the physical act of writing was spontaneous the powerful feelings, memories and thoughts that fuelled the poetic outburst had long, deep roots in the past. The use of vivid language, imagery, rhythm, cadence and overall musicality add to the pull of patriotism inherent within the poem and widens its appeal to the contemporary Tibetan reader. In spite of this popular appeal and seeming accessibility it is not an easy poem. As it is a poem wrought of passion and reflection one needs to read it sev- eral times in order to appreciate its emotional depth, niceties of im- agery and its many oral and textual allusions. Each reading seems to peel away one layer of meaning to reveal yet another. There are too many layers and nuances to explore in a single essay but allow me to focus on at least three principal features of the poem.

First and foremost, as I have already pointed out, “The Anniversary and the Melody” is a poem that commemorates a particular historic day of the Lhasa Uprising. The 10th of March has come to be regarded as a singular historic moment, but it is important to be aware of the long-term forces and complex events that gave rise to it. Moreover, history did not stand still but has continued to complicate the Tibetan life ever since that momentous occurrence. This popular revolt was the culmination of armed insurgencies that had greeted the Chinese com- munist forces and personnel as soon as they set foot on Tibetan soil in the eastern Tibetan regions of Kham and Amdo. The Lhasa uprising met the same brutal fate as the eastern Tibetan rebellions against what Tibetans call “the gun-toting uninvited guests” (me mda’ thogs pa’i ma bos mgron po)

and their sweeping communist reforms that sought to upend traditional Tibetan society and long-established worldviews.

For many Tibetans, the military suppression of the Lhasa Uprising marks the complete establishment of Chinese rule over Tibet and thus March 10th symbolises the unprecedented social trauma and political persecution that had preceded it as well as that which followed in its long wake stretching to the present day. Sangdhor is tapping into this historical significance and the distilled symbolism of the day when he begins the poem announcing the specific time of writing:

politically conscious Tibetans both inside and outside Tibet. For English transla- tions of these statements see The Dalai Lama 2016.

17 For instance, the Dalai Lama (i.e. unpublished speeches delivered on 24 December 2002, 7 March 2014) often traces the root of the current Tibetan plight to the arrival of uninvited new guests (gdan zhu gang yang med pa’i sku mgron gsar pa zhig) wield- ing guns (me mda’ khyer nas yong). Also see Jangbu’s subtle poem on this gun-wield- ing uninvited guest (Ljang bu 2001: 32-33). Heather Stoddard’s English translation of this poem can be found in Jangbu 2010: 18.

Tonight is the Tenth of March,

Right now, Wednesday past midnight.

This year how many living things will die?

How many living things of this mountainside will die?

No attempt is made to conceal such a politically sensitive date in the coded language or metaphorical garb that many Tibetan writers usu- ally employ to fend off Chinese state censorship and serious reprisals.

The pregnant significance of the date and precarious moribund exist- ence of the present link the recent past and the here and now in an instant of recollection and contemplation. Conscious observation of the historic date and reflection upon the current situation of Tibet pre- sent the Tibetan collective experience under the Chinese rule as a con- tinuum of repression, death and tragedy. From the present moment of the small hours of Wednesday 10 March 2010 the poem jumps back over five decades to recall: “The story of that time, that place and that month; / The cause of that day, that family and that year.” These are obvious references to the tragedy that befell the “family” of Tibet on 10 March 1959. Tibetans inside Tibet and China are forbidden to men- tion this source of many sufferings, including their ongoing plight, let alone relate its story and reflect upon its causes. While many dare not even hint at it, the poet resolves to sing it, and celebrate it. Thus, at the very outset the poem seethes with death, destruction, angst, an active remembrance, and paints a modern Tibetan nation in unending pain.

What also becomes apparent right from the start is that the poem is not merely preoccupied with remembering a single significant date—

10 March 1959—and its unaccounted and unmourned casualties. It is a subtle yet fluid narrative poem that channels accounts of historical happenings and the current political situation into its overall torrential flow whilst also communicating the awakening of a new political con- sciousness. It comingles and simultaneously commemorates the suf- ferings inflicted upon the Tibetan people over fifty years of colonial rule. The poem was composed two years after the suppression of the 2008 pan-Tibetan uprising that resulted in arrests, political re-educa- tion, increased militarisation and heightened surveillance across the Tibetan plateau.

For many Tibetans, this nationwide Tibetan rebel- lion was reminiscent of the 1950s resistance to CCP rule in terms of its

18 For reports on the crackdown of the 2008 protests see the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) 2009; Human Rights Watch 2009, 2010; Smith 2010. For audacious contemporary Tibetan accounts of the 2008 protests and their suppression see Shokdung 2016 and the banned 2008 issue of Shar dung ri (The Eastern Snow Moun- tain), an acclaimed Tibetan language journal of social and literary criticism (sGrol

sheer intensity, geographical reach and participant diversity, as well as violent reprisals, which included thousands of arrests, and the de- tention and political re-education and relocation of thousands of monks. Accordingly, Sangdhor’s poem records this uprising with al- lusions to the raw “stone-smashing” protest scenes, interrogations, im- prisonments, deaths and the ongoing repercussions in the form of acts of self-immolation.

One historical event segues into another forming a seemingly un- broken chain of tragic happenings. With the referencing of the fiery self-immolations through the appropriation of a profound spiritual practice as a metaphor the poem brings the reader face to face with the grim present. While recalling a past historical event it brings to prom- inence the living legacy of this particular event by directly linking it to the here and now. As a consequence, for the poet, recent Tibetan his- tory is characterised by unceasing suffering and incessant deaths. This realisation is uttered by a note of anxious foresight in the first stanza of the poem in which the evocative date of March 10th conflates the past and the present and points to a dark future. Macabre historical patterns assure the poet-singer of one thing—that there will be more deaths and destruction to come. It is this certitude born of actual expe- rience and a feeling of resignation to suffering that we can hear in the questions: “This year how many living things will die? / How many living things of this mountainside will die?” “Living things” is the English rendering of the Tibetan term skye dngos in its broader sense.

It literally means things that grow or regenerate and in its common usage it covers both animals and plants. Here the term carries a broader connotation to subsume under it all things graced with regen- erative vigour and life force, including human beings, that grow on or inhabit “this mountainside”, that is Tibet. The questions are rooted within the tacit understanding shared by the poet and the reader that many animals, plants and humans have died every single year since 10 March 1959 as a direct outcome of what befell Tibet on that specific day. The emphatic identification of the date is immediately followed by a sombre reflection upon how many “living things” will once again disappear this very year as history repeats itself.

This elegiac poem thus recalls a date of immense historical signifi- cance and symbolic power and laments the loss of Tibetan lives and the sufferings inflicted since the 1950s. It does this by taking advantage of Tibet’s literary and oral traditions. For instance, it borrows the mem- orable metre, cadence and wisdom of a famous 18

century text for- mally entitled Khache Phalu’s Advice on the Observance of Secular Karmic

ma et al. eds. 2008. English translations of excerpts from this journal can be found in the International Campaign for Tibet 2009: 71-105.

Laws (kha che pha lu’i ’jig rten las ’bras rtsi lugs kyi bslab bya). Although little is known concerning its authorship, this text is attributed to a cer- tain Khache Phalu. Hence, among both the literati and the general pub- lic the work is simply known as Khache Phalu.

It belongs to the highly popular category of Tibetan literature called bslab bya, advice. The ad- vice genre is generally characterised by an astute observation of life in its spiritual and temporal complexities and communication of wise words and counsel with clarity, concision and persuasive poetic force.

Apart from the short opening remarks in prose, Khache Phalu is written in verse using a very accessible vernacular idiom. It is a lyrical and captivating aphoristic work addressed to the young and old alike.

In arresting sound patterns of rhyme and rhythm, it dispenses practi- cal advice on leading a fair, just, contented and thoughtful life without ever having the need to fear the vicissitudes of fortune and imperma- nence of life. For the Tibetan reader, this borrowing endows “The An- niversary and the Melody” with a familiar lyricism and rhythmic feel and a tone of intimate concern. Sangdhor acknowledges his debt to Khache Phalu by citing lines from it verbatim very early on:

“All the people who come are people who must go;

This perishable world has many a high and a low.”

Sing the tune of Khache Phalu far into the distance, From the horizon something bounces back as an echo.

The two lines in quotation marks are extracted from separate sections of Khache Phalu. The first line comes out of the ruminations about the impermanent nature of life. Indifferent to social stratification, death the great leveller makes everyone who ventures into this world depart it:

19 Mig dmar (ed.) 1992: Kha che pha lu. A very useful edition that takes into account variations between three different versions of the text can be found in Thub bstan sbyin pa AND Blo bzang rdo rje rab gling (eds.) 2006: 371-386; 440-450. In the 1980s the text was further popularised in Eastern Tibet by the famed bard Kalsang Dekpa’s (sKal bzang grags pa) recitation of it on radio and cassette tapes. The au- thorship of the text is not known for sure. Some scholars attribute it to a great Is- lamic scholar. For instance, following the accounts given by some Tibetan Mus- lims, Dawa Norbu speculates that the author’s second name corresponds to a cer- tain Farzur-alla in the preface to his English translation of Kha che pha lu (1987: xii).

On the other hand, Horkhang Sonam Palbar attributes it to ’Brong rtse mkhas pa chen po, a famed teacher of the Seventh Panchen Lama (Hor khang bsod nams dpal ’bar 1999: 503-505). For an English translation of the entire text see Dawa Norbu 1987.

20 See Thub bstan sbyin pa AND Blo bzang rdo rje rab gling (eds.) 2006 for an anthol- ogy of such advice texts and an informative introduction to the genre.

The beggar might be sad but scrapes through life, The king might be happy but must die in the end.

One cannot tell how many have gone already, And who can surmise how many are yet to go?

People come and go, and come and go.

In essence, all the people who come are people who must go, Of this saṃsāric world not a single thing is permanent.

The second quotation is taken from a passage reflecting upon in- equality, karmic destiny and contentment. Suffering and happi- ness are impermanent and unpredictable in nature and diverse in form. They come in incalculable shapes and sizes. Each indi- vidual experiences joy and woe differently in terms of their in- tensity and endurance. It is advised that one should brace oneself for what life throws at one with the means of contentment:

This perishable world has many a high and a low, Joy and woe incalculable in their range and depth.

As can clearly be seen no single person is like another, It’s far better for oneself to be contented with this.

These quotations appear to have at least two overall significances.

Firstly, they indicate that the poet accepts and underlines Khache Phalu’s conclusion that death and suffering are part and parcel of this world and one must embrace them with stoicism. However, the stan- zas that immediately precede and follow the quotes make it abun- dantly clear that we are not dealing with ordinary loss of life and an- guish. Nor are they the consequences of inevitable natural causes.

When one ponders over the cause and nature of Tibetan suffering it brings something echoing back from the horizon. Deep consideration and recall make one realise that the tragic experience of Tibetans can- not be accepted with the usual wise resignation or be consigned to oblivion. Secondly, the quoted lines draw attention to the stylistic fea- tures of the poem itself. They emphatically confirm the conscious ab- sorbance of Khache Phalu’s nine syllabic metric pattern, high propen-

21 Mig dmar (ed.) 1992: 6. sprang po sdug kyang mi tshe ’khyol ’gro lo/ rgyal po skyid kyang tha ma shi ’gro lo/ de snga song pa’i grang ka mi shes ’dug/ da dung ’gro rgyu’i gdeng tshod su yis shes/ yong gin yong gin ’gro gin ’gro gin ’dug/ don du yong mi tshang ma

’gro mi red/ ’khor ba ’di la rtag pa gcig kyang med/.

22 Ibid: 16. ’jig rten ’di ru sgang gshong mang zhig ’dug/ skyid sdug ring thung sbom phra grang med red/ ’dra ’dra gcig kyang med pa mthong gsal red/ ’di la chog shes rang gis byas pa dga’/.

sity for wordplay, alliteration, internal rhyme and a relentlessly for- ward propelling cadence. Thus “the tune of Khache Phalu” is used to discover, fathom and augment a deep melody with which it mingles.

Khache Phalu serves as the prelude to and the tuneful carrier of that melody bursting forth from the depths of Tibetan history and culture and from the long-running agony of contemporary Tibetans. Com- municating the heavy burden of human suffering and a new assertive political spirit, the form and content of the poem become inseparably fused into an integrated whole.

“The Anniversary and the Melody” also mines Tibetan oral tradi- tions to capture the enormity and intensity of human suffering that immediately ensued from 10 March 1959 and ongoing political repres- sion. For example, it makes use of well-known avian motifs of Tibetan folk culture when invoking extreme anguish and lamentation. From the horizon of memory and forgetfulness “something” bounces back as a response to the awakening “tune of Khache Phalu”. Within it we witness the lonely flight of widowed birds and hear their piercing, sol- itary cries. The Tibetan reader is beseeched to immerse their conscious- ness within this sight and sound of deep sorrow:

Each and every single goose that solitary flies, Each and every lone grouse that solitary cries.

Let them be heard in the inner space of our minds, Let them permeate the utter depth of our minds.

The symbolic power of the “single goose” and “lone grouse” lies in the popular Tibetan belief that these birds are eternally loyal to their ma- tes. Like the swan in European folklore, they are celebrated for fidelity and constancy. It is believed that these birds mate for life and if one is killed the other will remain single and mourn till death. The grouse laments daily by letting out loud heart-rending calls on the mountain- top that reverberate throughout the adjacent valleys. The poem is urg- ing Tibetans, as the bereaved, to emulate the legendary loyalty of these birds and perpetually remember the origins of their lasting collective suffering - the violent suppression of the March 10th Uprising - that widowed and orphaned many a Tibetan.

Gradual Maturation and Political Awakening

This constant remembrance brings to the fore a second prominent fea-

ture of the poem: A seemingly inevitable new political awakening. For

the poet-singer the Tibetan colonial experience that followed from the

10 March Uprising is characterised by an accumulation of suffering

and misrule over half a century (calculated from the date of composi- tion). The shock and pain engendered by the bloody takeover of Tibet in the 1950s were made even worse by the socio-cultural trauma of the 1960s and the 1970s that was brought about by the destructive policies of the Cultural Revolution. The period of relative cultural freedom in the early 1980s was short-lived. Since the late 1980s, many aspects of Tibetan cultural revival and reassertion of national identity have yet again been subjected to draconian political restrictions. Relentless state control, surveillance and persecution —encapsulated in the poem by the images of “pistols”, “interrogations” and “prisoners”—afflict to- day’s Tibet. The absence of basic civil and political rights and the fact that Tibetans have little or no say in the day to day running of their homeland aggravate an already deplorable situation.

“The Anniversary and the Melody” intimates that this colonial ex- perience has an awakening impact upon the Tibetan psyche that leads to political action and realisation. This idea is something very similar to that put forward by the highly acclaimed Tibetan intellectual Shokdung in his vociferous book on the 2008 Tibetan uprising entitled Separating the Sky and the Earth: On the Peaceful Revolution of the Earth- Mouse Year (gnam sa go ’byed/ sa byi zhi ba’i gsar brje la bris pa).

In this renowned volume published in 2009—that put him in detention and earned him many admirers including our poet Sangdhor

— Shokdung asserts that years of repression and terror finally gave way to the 2008 Tibet-wide peaceful rebellion. He construes this rebellion itself as the manifestation of a revolutionary political awakening that harkens back to the heroic courage and national consciousness of the Tibetan Empire, as well as feeding on current Tibetan aspirations for freedom, human rights and democracy.

In Sangdhor’s poem, we learn that although decades of Chinese communist rule, disinfor- mation and indoctrination have made inroads into the Tibetan con- sciousness, these state endeavours have not managed to produce the desired effect. Despite the material resources and coercive apparatuses at its disposal, the Chinese state has failed to instil total submission, historical amnesia and unthinking conformism among Tibetans.

As a

23 Zhogs dung 2009. See Shokdung 2016 for an English translation of the book by Matthew Akester who translates the title as The Division of Heaven and Earth.

24 For Sangdhor’s show of admiration see his effusive verse review of Shokdung’s book and his poem celebrating Shokdung’s prison lease. Both of these poems were first published online on Sangdhor’s now closed down literary website on 5 Feb- ruary 2010 and 15 October 2010 respectively. They can be found in printed form in Seng rdor 2011: 103-112, 117-126.

25 Zhogs dung 2009: 12-30.

26 Many contemporary Tibetan poetic statements similarly touch on the inability of the Chinese state to bend Tibetans to its will. For example, a very famous Tibetan

result, out of the long colonial subjugation a song surges out, a song propelled by a profound melody:

From somewhere a song surges out with gentle pace, Gradually it demolishes cells of silence and isolation.

That is the ideal that we can behold;

That is our own great renaissance.

Beneath a thousand layered sheath of flesh and skin Laughs an innate, natural tune with deep resonance.

Deep within a hundred thousand encased bones and veins Sobs and sobs a masterful, primordial melody.

I believe this song is a reference to the protests that rippled across the Tibetan plateau in 2008 calling for justice, freedom, independence, hu- man rights and the return of the Dalai Lama.

Hundreds of monks carried out two separate protests on 10 March 2008 in Lhasa to com- memorate the 49th anniversary of the 10 March 1959 Uprising and to express dissent against the Chinese rule. Suppression of these and other protests on subsequent days unleashed a wave of large-scale public demonstrations all over Tibet, the likes of which had not been seen since the armed resistances of the 1950s. The uprising met a vio- lent end resulting in mass deaths, torture, imprisonments, displace- ments and various repressive campaigns. Its magnitude and intensity were only matched by the sheer violence of the Chinese state and the multitude of its draconian measures. Nevertheless, with its audacious expression of deep discontent and its show of resurgent political awareness and agency the 2008 uprising leaves an enduring and un- fathomable legacy. It functions like an awakened and awakening song that breaks the state enforced silence and ends the isolation induced both by state repression and citizens’ political inaction.

hip hop song resists the power of Chinese state and repels the light of its “civilising mission” as follows when they speak for a new generation of Tibetans who came of age under its colonial rule:

We’re the sharp intellect

Not content with your advice and edicts We’re the soft darkness

Not repelled by your light and power

We’re the uproar and retaliation to embitter you We’re the terror and plague of your life

See Lama Jabb (2018: 101-105) for a commentary on and a translation of the lyrics in its entirely.

27 For an account and analysis of the 2008 Tibetan uprising and its repercussions see Smith, Warren W (2010) and Tsering Topgyal (2016a: 149-174).

In the poem under review, a profound primordial melody informs and carries this new song and then absorbs it into its long and seem- ingly infinite sequence. After incorporating the song into its perpetual flow the melody surges on and beyond gathering other distinct notes into its currents on a permeating and enlightening course through the hearts and minds of contemporary Tibetans. Through the employment of specific terms, concepts and images the poem indicates that this suf- fusive melody is born of Tibetan territory and history, and that it is deepened by Tibetan spiritual traditions, artistic heritage and current socio-political experiences. Suggestive phrases like “living things of this mountainside” (ri sul ’di yi skye dngos), “this mountain of a great wilderness” (bas mtha’i la mo ’di), and “the mane of mountain peaks”

(ri rtse’i rngog ma) portray the mountain-enshrined existence of Tibet.

“The sacred vow”, “command”, “sacred helmet” and “the royal seal”,

“sword”, and “edict”, (dbu mna’, bka’ bda’, dbu rmog, rang sde’i rtags tham, dpa’ dam, bka’ gtsigs) recall a glorious period of Tibetan history.

These are some of the evocative terms associated with the Tibetan im- perial power, which extended from India to China and spread across Central Asia during the Eighth and Ninth Centuries.

Through the ap- propriation of such loaded terms the poem is underlining the unifying resonance and the inspirational energy of some of the forces that ena- bled the Tibetan imperial expansion, i.e., Tibetan solidarity and alle- giance (sacred vow or covenant), administrative power (royal seal and edicts) and military might on horseback (“Breaking into a wild gallop is the sacred helmet”).

Complex concepts and practices such as karma, unceasing concep- tual activities of the mind, primordial mastery, meditation, tummo, bardo and the perfection of liberation paths and stages (las dbang, sems kyi ’phro ’du, gnyug ma rtsad grub, sgom, gtum mo, bar do, sa lam rdzogs

28 On the Tibetan empire and Tibetan military excursions into the Indian Sub-conti- nent, Central Asia and China see van Schaik 2011: 1-50, Kapstein 2006: 51-83. For Tibetan imperial expansions across Inner and Central Asia see Beckwith 2013: 133- 41, and 1993.

29 For another powerful poem of Sangdhor entitled “The Bushy Yaktail” (rnga rtsid llheb po) that blends Tibetan imperial imagery and the 2008 uprising see Seng rdor 2011a: 127. On the significant role of oath during the Tibetan empire see Schaeffer, Kurtis R, Matthew T. Kapstein and Gray Tuttle (eds.) 2013: 9, 21-24; Walter, Mi- chael L 2009: 10-13, 49-50, 174-186. For the Tibetan imperial administration see Uebach, Helga 2009: 57-69, 2003: 21-27, Takeuchi, Tsuguhito 2003: 43-54. For a col- lection of texts on royal edicts see Schaeffer, Kurtis R, Matthew T. Kapstein and Gray Tuttle (eds.) 2013: 57-86. In Sangdhor’s poem “the sacred helmet” (dbu rmog) is an image for the Tibetan imperial military power and Tibetan martial spirit. It might also carry that symbolic significance attributed to it by Giuseppe Tucci (1955:

200) – “the magic power of the king”.

pa) deepen the melody with their allusions to Tibetan religious tradi- tions. These terms, although spiritual in their origin, are consciously invested with secular significance to reference contemporary ideolog- ical change and actual political developments on the ground. As al- ready observed, Tibetan artistic heritage courses through and channels the flow of the melody, as exemplified by, inter alia, the tune of Khache Phalu and the composition of the sublime Tibetan performing art repa.

Indeed, it is guitar and flute (pi Wang, gling bu), ubiquitous traditional instruments, that Tibetans are beseeched to play in order to sing out their contemporary existence. This contemporary existence, which also feeds the melody, is characterised by interrogations, pistols and pris- oners (tsha ’dri, dkrum mda’, btson pa) as well as ideological awakening and political agency. It is within such a complex melody the contem- porary Tibetan people find wisdom against and escape from Chinese imperialist power and indoctrination:

Now let’s practise within the melody,

Let’s practise within the measure of the melody.

Let’s strike every string of the mind with great force And strum each note of the psyche with great power.

Now let’s train the mind within the melody,

Let’s train the mind within the cadence of the melody.

Let’s press every spring of the senses with great strength And turn each screw of the intellect with great might.

Now let’s seek respite within the melody,

Let’s seek respite within the harmony of the melody.

Let’s wipe clean all the parts and joints of the soul And wash well each component of the life force.

Such spring-cleaning stands for a necessary deprogramming process that rids Tibetans of the imprints of Chinese state indoctrination ef- fected through the medium of state-run education, mass media and political campaigns. The act of deprogramming is combined with meditative absorption within the melody, thereby deepening the po- litical awakening announced by the song of the 2008 uprising. This new political consciousness is made known through the novel use of

30 Repa (ras pa) is a type of Tibetan performing arts that features song, dance, story- telling, gymnastic display and recitation of poetry. Its origins are traced back to Milarepa (1052-1135) and is usually performed by a single itinerant artist or a troupe of artists, who are also known as repa. A variant spelling of it is ralpa (ral pa). For an introduction to this once ubiquitous but now declining art see Mgon po rgyal mtshan 1998.

Buddhist concepts and meditation practices. Familiar theological terms are secularised - thus defamiliarising them—for the purpose of conveying the awakening of a revolutionary consciousness. The poem brings into relief its extended metaphor of meditation cum enlighten- ment as it makes emphatic references to “spiritual practice”, “mind training”, “the perfection of liberation paths and stages”, “the dissolu- tion of all obscurations”, and “the extinguishing of all illusions” (nyams len, blo sbyong, sa lam rdzogs, sgrib ba ma lus byang, ’khrul ba thams cad zad). In Tibetan Buddhism, these are conventional technical terms for specific meditation practices and the resultant spiritual experiences that pave the way to the final enlightenment. Great Tibetan meditation treatises such as Stages of Meditation (sgom pa’i rim pa) tell us how one needs to constantly immerse oneself in deep contemplation enabled by diligence, patience, discipline and a compassionate mind embracing all sentient beings.

It is stressed again and again that one must inces- santly engage in rigorous meditation and overcome uncritical conven- tional thinking obscured by ignorance (ma rig pas sgrib ba) and worldly illusions. It is believed that this in turn will help the practitioner culti- vate the awakening mind of bodhichitta (byang sems) rooted in univer- sal compassion that will eventually secure the ultimate goal: the om- niscient state of enlightenment. Sangdhor applies this religious idiom for communicating an entirely different experience — an experience that is considered to be equally novel and transformational.

Buddhist enlightenment serves as a metaphor for political emanci- pation. The highly taxing and time-consuming process of deep medi- tation that results in the attainment of Buddhahood (more often than not requiring the endeavour of many a lifetime) is likened to the long, arduous and reflective journey that ends with an awakened mind thirsting for political freedom. Although this realisation may not entail the actual materialisation of political freedom, it at least gives rise to a galvanising awareness that Tibet has been under occupation, which in turn generates an impulse for emancipatory action. The poem instructs the reader to take a particular meditation posture, and be seated and immersed within the melody. It advocates supreme calm by encour- aging us to slow down our physical activities and breathing to a meas- ured pace. The long reflection on Tibetan history and Tibet’s current situation—assisted by composure, precision and patience (prerequi-

31 Stages of Meditation (sgom pa’i rim pa) is said to have been composed by the great ninth century Indian scholar Kamalaśīla in Tibet. The Dalai Lama teaches this text frequently, and see his Stages of Meditation (2001) for an authoritative commentary on this illuminating text in English. Another lucid exposition of Tibetan meditation practices can be found in Treasury of Knowledge by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé 2008.

sites for single-pointed concentration, ting nge ’dzin)—leads to the vis- ceral rediscovery of “the seal”, “the sword” and “the edict of our tribe”. Here the intimate term “our tribe” (rang sde) denotes Tibet.

It recalls Gedun Choepel’s stirring verse that brings to an abrupt end his unfinished yet highly influential history of Tibet called White Annals (theb ther dkar po).

This was the first Tibetan history book that made use of the ancient Dunhuang manuscripts for shedding light upon the workings and the legacy of the Tibetan empire .

Gedun Choepel de- scribes his incomplete historical project with patriotic sentiment:

With the white brilliance of love for the people of our tribe That resides within the centre of my natural born heart, To the king and country of our land of snowy Tibet I have offered a little service to the best of my ability.

“The seal”, “the sword” and “the edict” of Sangdhor’s poem belong to that very tribe with an impressive imperial history celebrated with such passion and poetic eloquence in White Annals. As they meditate within the melody, these great symbols of the Tibetan imperial power issue forth from the vital organs of living Tibetans who are experienc- ing the Chinese colonial rule here and now. This sequence of graphic images is the heightening of a powerful bodily imagery that permeates the poem, which even locates the original source of the great melody itself within the “layered sheath of flesh and skin” and “encased bones and veins.” The salient embodied imagery underscores that intricate connection between the bodily senses and human understanding spe- cifically lauded by William Hazlitt and emulated by his prose style.

32 Depending on the context rang sde can be translated as my tribe (community, vil- lage and settlement) or one’s tribe or our tribe. Reflecting the tone, mood and over- all patriotic feel of the poem I have chosen the last of these three options.

33 Dge ’dun chos ’phel 1994 Vol III: 205-300. For Samten Norboo’s English translation of The White Annals see Gedun Chophel 1978.

34 Dunhuang manuscripts are a large cache of ancient documents discovered at a cave complex in Dunhuang, the Chinese province of Gansu in the early 20th cen- tury. They are predominantly in Chinese and Tibetan and are an invaluable source for studying early Tibetan history, religion and society. The International Dunhuang Project provides digital images and catalogues of these manuscripts on its website: http://idp.bl.uk

35 dGe ’dun chos ’phel 1994 Vol III: 299. rang sde’i rigs la zhen pa dkar po’i mdangs// rang byung snying gi dbus na gnas pa ’dis// rang yul kha pa can gyi rje ’bangs la// rang gis nus pa’i sri zhu cung zad sgrub//.

Hazlitt prizes writers whose style displayed “strong, vivid, bodily per- ception” and whose “body thought.”

Tom Paulin explains that the presence of the body is prominent in Hazlitt’s writing because “he wishes to unite sense experience and, importantly, expressive physical movement with imagination and understanding.”

In a similar way, Sangdhor’s poem observes and expresses the connection between bod- ily experience and human understanding. After rigorous meditation- like absorption within the melody, the items that emerge from the liver, lungs and bowels—organs associated with love, life, happiness and deep inward feelings—link the imperial past with the present Ti- betan body experiencing the pangs of colonial rule and an awakening political mind.

The past and the present mingle within the mind and the body of contemporary Tibetans culminating in a patriotic consciousness for guiding individual and collective action. “The Anniversary and the Melody” thus displays an element of what D. H. Lawrence calls “the poetry of the present” that incorporates both the past and the future while being neither. For Lawrence, it is in the immediate present that the “living plasm vibrates unspeakably, it inhales the future, it exhales the past, it is the quick of both, and yet it is neither.”

Within this fluid and dynamic poem under review, the immediate present moment of Tibet breathes in and out both the past and the future. As we have al- ready seen the poem is mostly preoccupied with the present and recent Tibetan history, yet in terms of both form and content it is woven of Tibet’s rich literary and oral traditions and the distant past. This qual- ity furnishes the poem and its imagery with intellectual and emotional depth while always ensuring that it is deeply rooted within the living, evolving and vibrating present. The political awakening that the poem detects and celebrates is the part of a living present felt by the contem- porary Tibetan body or by what Lawrence would call the “pulsating, carnal self”.

Thus Sangdhor’s poem teems with poetic images that are visual representations of bodily senses and intellectual experiences

36 Hazlitt cited in Paulin, Tom 1998: 56. The phrase “body thought” alludes to John Donne’s poem “Of the Progress of the Soul: The Second Anniversary” (Donne 1955: 221):

her pure, and eloquent blood

Spoke in her cheekes, and so distinctly wrought, That one might almost say, her body thought;

37 Paulin 1998: 56.

38 Sangdhor’s “Those Heroes Might’ve Thought Thus (dpa’ rgod de tshos ’di ltar dgongs yod nges) is another poem that employs graphic bodily imagery and senses for por- traying contemporary Tibetan political protests and patriotism see Seng rdor 2011b: 107-109.

39 Lawrence, D. H. [1919] 1990: 48.

40 Ibid: 49. Italic original.

that possess a force of sudden revelation concerning today’s Tibet born of the past and the present.

The Power of the Visible

In another fresh and pregnant metaphor Sangdhor secularises a fa- mous spiritual practice to give expression to a tragic yet powerful con- temporary Tibetan political action, which might be seen as yet another aspect of the new political awakening the poem records. The torrential flow of the melody gathers its momentum in the “year when tummo of mountain peaks burns”:

That melody is how one breaks into a gallop;

It is how one leaps and breaks into a gallop.

The year when the tummo of mountain peaks burns Breaking into a wild gallop is the sacred helmet.

Tummo (gtum mo, inner heat or inner fire)—the great yogic practice of internal heat generation—is converted into a new poetic image to cap- ture a state forbidden aspect of contemporary Tibet. This is the act of self-immolation carried out by Tapey, a young monk from Kirti Mon- astery in Eastern Tibet, in protest against Chinese rule in 2009, which set off a chain reaction of similar acts in the years that followed calling for Tibetan freedom, the return of the Dalai Lama, and language equal- ity and protection.

The secular appropriation of tummo gives vivid presence to something that is either silenced or (when mentioned) dis- torted to the point of invisibility in the official narrative of the Chinese state concerning contemporary Tibet. In this innovative poetic image, we can observe, to borrow from Marianne Moore, that the “power of the visible is the invisible”. In a poem on the ostrich called “He "Di- gesteth Hard Yron”, Moore opines:

41 Since Tapey’s self-immolation on 27 February 2009, a further 154 Tibetans have carried out acts of self-immolation inside Tibet to date (14 December 2018). There have been at least three self-immolation protests in 2018 alone. Out of the 155 rec- orded self-immolators 123 are known to have passed away. Little is known about the wellbeing and whereabouts of the survivors. Summary details of Tibetan self- immolations and an informative 2012 report (Storm in the Grasslands: Self-immola- tions in Tibet and Chinese policy) on the lives and last testaments of some of the self- immolators can be found on the website of International Campaign for Tibet:

https://www.savetibet.org/resources/fact-sheets/self-immolations-by-tibet- ans/. For further information on and media coverage of Tibetan Self-immolations see Buchung D. Sonam (ed.) 2013. For scholarly interpretations of self-immolations see Tsering Topgyal 2016b: 166-187; McGranahan and Litzinger (eds.) 2012, and Buffetrille and Robin (eds.) 2012.

The power of the visible is the invisible; as even where no tree of freedom grows, so-called brute courage knows.

Heroism is exhausting, yet

it contradicts a greed that did not wisely spare the harmless solitaire.

In her poem, Moore celebrates the obstinate survival of the ostrich while many similar exotic birds became extinct. She might also be re- ferring to the power of the image, the known and the living that ena- bles it to shine light upon the unimaged, the unknown and the dead.

The invisible or the unknown has an uncanny ability to reveal itself through the visible. In her ostrich poem Moore is specifically noting the power of the visible presence of the living—that is the ostrich—to reveal those erstwhile living things first deprived of their freedom and then driven to extinction by sheer human rapacity and power lust. If one extrapolates this notion to Sangdhor’s employment of tummo as a poetic image one might be able to perceive that it makes something unspeakable visible to the “inward eye” of the Tibetan reader. It sears a vivid image of the acts of self-immolation on the Tibetan mind—acts made unmentionable and not objectively discussed by the Chinese state and its media.

The spiritual and historical dimensions of the term tummo and its enduring popularity deepen its symbolic significance and make it more profound and accessible as a poetic image. Tummo, inner fire meditation, is an ancient yogic practice that constitutes a vital part of the famous Six Yogas of Nāropa (nā ro chos drug).

Tibetans have been practising it since at least the 11th Century when the great translator and master Marpa Lotsāwa (1012-1097) imported it from India and popularised it in Tibet. Through diligent and disciplined meditation practices the tummo practitioner harnesses inner heat and channels it for generating the subtlest level of consciousness so as to attain the highest form of wisdom. That is to say that the blissful heat of tummo (gtum mo’i bde drod) is utilized for gaining enlightenment. Therefore, tummo is highly sought after for its liberating “fire-heat” (gtum mo me drod). The most famous practitioner and teacher of tummo is the great

42 Moore, Marianne 1968: 100.

43 For an insightful book on the Six Yogas of Naropa revolving around tummo see Glenn H. Mullin’s (2005) translation of and introduction to Tsongkhapa’s famous commentary on these yogic practices called The Three Convictions (yid ches gsum ldan). According to the current Dalai Lama this “work is regarded by Tibetans as tummo gyi gyalpo [gtum mo gi rgyal po], the king of treatments on the inner heat yoga” (Quoted in Mullin 2005: 44).

yogi-poet Milarepa (1052-1135), a principal disciple of Marpa Lotsāwa.

The thin cotton clad Milarepa is admired, amongst other things, for his courage and sheer obstinacy to bear many hardships in order to perfect tummo amidst the snowy mountains of Tibet (gangs ri’i khrod). To this day, many a Tibetan practitioner has followed in his footsteps. In short, tummo is the product of centuries of Tibetan Bud- dhist teaching and practice shaping bodily and mental experiences.

Sangdhor appropriates this consciousness forging yogic practice and makes it burn on the mountain peaks of contemporary Tibet, just as the heat of tummo burnt inside Milarepa so many years ago on so many summits.

The inner heat that has blazed inside the bodies of great yogis and numerous lesser practitioners on the Tibetan mountaintops, sharpening their senses for spiritual emancipation, is transformed into the sacrificial fire of self-immolations uttering political discontent, as- piration and agency in such ineffable ways and with such tragic con- sequences. Thus, within the poetic image of tummo—visible in the mind’s eye—rages the invisible fire of the self-immolations for political liberation, invisible in the Chinese state-controlled media and state censored Tibetan communications. Tummo is also part of the salient bodily imagery of Sangdhor’s poem that captures what is experienced and expressed by the contemporary Tibetan body. Thus, matters of the mind and body are employed as poetic images for communicating new political awakening and actions of the contemporary Tibetan na- tion.

Tibet within the Fabric of the Poetic Text

The third prominent feature of “The Anniversary and the Melody”, indivisibly intermeshed with the other two highlighted aspects, con- cerns the presence of the Tibetan nation within the very fabric of the poetic text itself. As the poem weaves itself into the written form out of the warp and weft of Tibetan oral and literary sources it beseeches the Tibetan reader to use the newly gained consciousness or political Buddhahood for narrating the recent history of Tibet. Like many who

44 On Milarepa, his relationship with his master Marpa Lotsawa and diligent spir- itual practice see Andrew Quintman’s fine translation of The Life of Milarepa by Tsangnyön Heruka 2010. For Milarepa’s vital role in the transmission of the Six Yogas of Naropa see Mullin 2005.

45 See Seng rdor (2006: 125-128; 2008: 33-36) for two contrasting yet equally brilliant poems on Milarepa. Sangdhor’s free verse poem “To Mourn” (mya ngan zhu ba) that first appeared on his now closed down literary website on 11 October 2011 is a more explicit reflection on Tibetan self-immolations (Seng rdor 2011c).

fought against Western imperialism in the 20th century, many Tibet- ans see “an unbroken continuity” of resistance

that can be traced back to the first native fighters’ insurrection against foreign intrusion. Just as there is an unbroken line of active Tibetan opposition that leads, to borrow Basil Davidson’s words, to a period of “primary resistance,”

so there is an uninterrupted chain of repression that stretches from the initial encounter between Tibet and Communist China to the present day. It is this history that Sangdhor’s poem narrates with frequent al- lusions to Tibet’s past imperial grandeur and by taking full advantage of the communicative efficacy, cultural embeddedness, arresting ca- dence and unique sound patterns of the Tibetan language. It is this history that the poem urges Tibetans to sing “with voice”, measure

“with sound” and utter “through speech”. This vocal narration of Ti- betan history forms part of that long-running resistance because it struggles against imposed historical amnesia.

Remembering forbid- den historical events generates counter-memory that helps to offset the Chinese state’s efforts to erase and rewrite Tibetan history.

As alluded in the first section of the essay, by providing an alterna- tive Tibetan historical narrative, this poem is itself a form of national remembrance on a grand scale encompassing Tibetan territory, his- tory, art and culture. It not only explicitly recalls the highly significant historical date of the March 10th, but also evokes the rich Tibetan ar- tistic heritage in its textual body. As we have seen, it is woven of his- torical allusions, religious references, poetic language and imagery de- rived from Tibet’s oral and literary traditions. As I have demonstrated, it employs the captivating tune and wisdom of Khache Phalu to tease out and carry on the great melody that bursts forth. This immensely popular traditional text that reflects upon the unpredictable, suffering and death-ridden nature of the human condition is itself informed by Tibetan oral poetry. As the poem closely associates the new Tibetan awakening with images of galloping horses, “the sacred helmet”, “the seal”, “the sword” and “the edict” memories of the Tibetan imperial power begin to course through it. The poem also calls to mind Tibetan

46 Edward W. Said 1997: 238 – 239 notes the tendency of many anti-imperial move- ments to locate their legitimacy and cultural primacy in this “unbroken continuity”

of resistance, which is usually played down by the European imperial powers in their historical accounts.

47 Cited in Said 1994: 252.

48 This is not to claim that the poet sets out consciously to undertake political re- sistance. In a way he is simply exercising an inherent human faculty, be it mediated by one’s socio-cultural experience. Memory is an essential part of an individual’s existence and identity and a Tibetan’s free use of it happens to clash with the Chi- nese imperial power.